Hasperat/L'Haspèrat bajorien

Many, many, many years ago, one of my friends bought me a cookbook... The Star Trek Cookbook. I'm fairly certain it was Jody which is totally cools since we both love to cook and both love, LOVE Star Trek.

I've never cooked anything from it before. To be frank, the book is awesome, but there was always a little part of me that was disappointed because... well, all the ingredients come from Earth. I know! It's a TV show!!!

Recently I have been watching again Star Trek: Voyager and have been reminded and inspired to give it a try. So I picked out a couple of recipes that I want to try over the next few months.

The first dish I tried is called Hasperat /HĀSS, pər-rāt/. It is a dish that was introduced to the Trek Universe through The Next Generation series when Ensign Ro Laren came aboard introducing viewers to Bajor culture and later through Deep Space Nine.

Hasperat is a tremendously popular national dish. It is a spicy Bajoran dish resembling a sliced Earth burrito, but filled with a carefully processed brine. A properly prepared Hasperat will set one's tongue on fire and bring tears to the eyes. It can also be served as a soufflé, by blending the hasperat and baking it in a deep pan.

Needless to day, this terrestrial version is not that hot, though it could be.

The cookbook doesn't give measurements on this particular recipe, so I winged it according to my own tastes.

Hasperat/L'Haspèrat bajorien

The Cream

• One large clove of garlic grated.
• A few drops of sesame oil. (I don't know why.)*
• 1/2 teaspoon of crushed dried tarragon. (I don't know why.)**
• 2 tablespoons of fresh cilantro chopped up .

I added all the above to one room-temperature package of organic cream cheese and mixed well.


The Stuffing

• Roast 2 organic peppers (red and yellow), cool and slice in to thin slices.
• Rough tear about half a bag of watercress ( I tore away the big parts of the stems but they are just as tasty and edible).

The Construction

• One a room-temperature tortilla wrap of your choice, place enough of the cream mixture on the wrap to nearly cover its diameter and with enough to be able to press in the pepper slices.
• Press in some of the roasted pepper slices.
• Top with watercress.
• Roll up the wraps in foil and refrigerate until time to serve or eat immediately.

Notes:

* I suppose you could use some hot-sauce or hot-oil you may have.
** Tarragon has a nice, fresh, unique scent and flavor. I just thought it might work with the vegetables.

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French Tuna Sandwich/Pan Bagnat

One of my favorite Food TV programs is Alton Brown's Good Eats. It's a cooking show for geek basically. Not the recipes themselves per se, no, but the break down of the process and the techniques used are very precise and explained scientifically.

Anyway, one show last year was about sandwiched. He had done several in the program as I remember but the one that stuck for me was Pan Bagnat, a French Tuna fish sandwich from the Nice Province.

This is a nice tuna sandwich for people who don't like Mayo and Tuna. It combines all the things I love in one sandwich, and it's French, so... Oh là là.

French Tuna Sandwich/Pan Bagnat

Ingredients

• 1 crusty Batard (French loaf, non-baguette), approximately 16 to 18 inches long
• 12 ounces canned tuna packed in oil or water, drained and crumbled
• 1 small green pepper, sliced into rings
• 1 small red onion, sliced into rings
• 2 hard-boiled eggs, sliced
• 1 cup chopped kalamata olives
• 1 tomato, thinly sliced
• 2 table spoons balsamic vinaigrette
  

Directions

• Horizontally slice the French loaf into 2 pieces.
• Tear out some of the soft bread in the center of each side, making a slight well in the bread.
• Place the tuna, green pepper, red onion, hard-boiled eggs, olives, and tomato on the bottom side of the bread in that order.
• Drizzle the vinaigrette over the vegetables, top with the second piece of bread, and wrap tightly in plastic wrap.
• Let stand at room temperature for 2 hours before serving.

Notes:

• Use the palm of your hand, thumb up, placed firmly on the loaf to hold the bread steady as you cut the length of the loaf with a knife.
• I found using Burgundy Olives is nicer than black olives.
• If you don't have extra wide cling-film, make a big sheet by putting tow together slightly overlapping side-by-side. Or, section the sandwich and wrap individuals.
• I take the boiled egg on the side.
• 2 Tbsps of vinaigrette is a general rule, apply as desired.
• I followed the wrong order in picture. Alton had his reasons, but the sandwich doesn't exist for very long after it is made, so...

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